The Palmerston City Council consists of the Mayor and seven aldermen. The city is not divided into wards, thus each alderman represents constituents from the entire city. Council elections are held in August every four years. The next election is in 2021.

Communications between the City of Palmerston and Kupang ceased in 2009 and a letter from previous Mayor, Robert Macleod was sent to the Mayor of Kupang advising him that Council had decided not to enter into a new agreement with the City of Kupang [3].